This nothing's more than matter. Ophelia 180 There's rosemary, that's for remembrance,(.) pray {you} love remember,(:) and there is pansies (Paconcies), that's for thoughts. Laertes A document in madness, thoughts and remem- brance fitted. Ophelia 185 There's fennel for you, and cole(u)mbines,(:) there's rue for you, & here's some for me,(.) we may call it {herb of grace} o' Sun- days,(:) you may (must) wear your rue with a difference,(.) there's a daisy, I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died,(:) they say<,> he made a good end.(;) 192 For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy. Laertes Thought<,> and affliction{s}, passion, hell itselfo She turns to favour<,> and to prettiness. Ophelia 195 And will he not come again,(:) {Song.} And will he not come again? No, no, he is dead, Go to thy death-bed, He never will come again. 200 His beard {was} as white as snow, flaxen was his poll,(:) He is gone, he is gone, And we cast away moan, {God a' mercy} on his soul,(.) 205 And of all Christian{'s} souls, God buy you. Laertes Do you this<,> î (you) God? King Laertes, I must commune (common) with your grief, Or you deny me right,(:) go but apart, 210 Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will, And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me,(;) If by direct or by collateral hand They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give, Our crown, our life, and all that we can ours 215 To you in satisfaction;(.) but if not, Be you content to lend your patience to us, And we shall jointly labour with your soul To give it due content. Laertes Let this be so.(:) His means of death, his obscure funeral (buriall),(;) 220 No trophy<,> sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones, No noble rite, nor formal ostentation, Cry to be heard<,> as 'twere from heaven to earth, That I must call {'t} in question. King So you shall, (:) And where the offence is, let the great axe fall. 225 I pray you go with me. Exeunt. +SCENE 6+ Enter Horatio {and others} <, with an Attendant>. Horatio What are they that would speak with me? Gentelmen (Ser). {Seafaring men} sir, they say they have letters for you. Horatio Let them come in. 4 I do not know from what part of the world I should be greeted,(:) if not from lord Hamlet. Enter Sailor{s}. First Sailor God bless you sir. Horatio Let him bless thee too. First Sailor 8 He shall sir<,> and (an 't) please him,(.) there's a letter for you sir, it came (comes) from th'ambas- sador that was bound for England, if your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. {Horatio} Horatio, when thou shalt have overlooked this, give these fellows some means to the king,(:) they have letters for him:(.) Ere we were two days old at sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment gave us chase,(.) finding ourselves too slow of sail, we put on a compelled valour,(.) (and) in the grapple I boarded them,(:) on the instant they got clear of our ship, so I alone became their prisoner,(.) they have dealt with me<,> like thieves of mercy, but they knew what they did,(.) I am to do a turn for them,(.) let the king have the letters I have sent, and repair thou to mewith as much speed (hast) as thou wouldst fly death,(.) I have words to speak in thine (your) ear will make thee dumb, yet are they much too light for the bord (bore) of the matter,(.) these good fel- lows will bring thee where I am,(.) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern<,> hold their course for England,(.) of them I have much to tell thee, farewell. 29 So (He) that thou knowest thine<,> Hamlet". {Hor.} Come<,> I will you way for these your letters, And do't the speedier<,> that you may direct me To him from whom you brought them. Exit {Exeunt}. +SCENE 7+ Enter King and Laertes. King Now must your conscience my acquaintance seal, And you must put me in your heart for friend, Sith you have heard<,> and with a knowing ear, That he which hath your noble father slain<,> 5 Pursued my life. Laertes It well appears:(.) but tell me<,> Why you proceede not against these feats<,> So criminal (crimefull)<,> and so capital in nature, As by your safety, {greatness,} wisdom, all things else<,> You mainly were stirred up.(?) King 10 O, for two special reasons<,> Which may to you perhaps seem much unsinew'd, But (And) yet to me they are strong,{.) the queen his mother Lives almost by his looks,(:) and for myself, My virtue or my plague, be it either which, 15 She's so conclive (conjunctive) to my life, and soul,(;) That, as the star moves not but in his sphere<,> I could not but by her,(.) the other motive, Why to a public count I might not go,(.) Is the great love the general gender bear him, 20 Who dipping all his faults in their affection, Work (Would), like the spring that turneth wood to stone, Convert his gives to graces,(.) so that my arrows Too slightly timber'd for so (loved Armed) , Would have reverted to my bow again, 25 But (And) not where I have (had) aim'd (arm'd) them. Laertes And so have I a noble father lost, A sister driven into desperate terms, Whoisel worth (was), {(}if praises may go back again{)} Stood challenger on mount of all the age 30 For her perfections,(.) but my revenge will come. King Break not your sleeps for that, you must not think That we are made of stuff, so flat, and dull, That we can let our beard be shook with danger, And think it pastime,(.) you shortly shall hear more, 35 I loved your father, and we love ourself, And that I hope will teach you to imagine.(-) {Enter a Messenger with letters.} {Messenger} These (This) to your majesty,(:j this to the queen. King 40 From Hamlet,(?) who brought them? Messenger Sailors my lord they say, I saw them not,(:) They were given me by Claudio, he received them<.> {Of him that brought them.} King Laertes, you shall hear them: leave us. +Reads.+ 45 High and mighty, you shall know I am set naked on your kingdom,(.) To-morrow shall I beg leave to see your kingly eyes,(.) when I shall <(>first asking you pardon{,} thereunto<)> recount the (th') occasion of my sudden<, and more strange> return. {King} 51 What should this mean,(?) are all the rest come back,(?) Or is it some abuse,(?) and no such thing? Laertes Know you the hand? King 'Tis Hamlet's character. Naked{,} 55 And in a postscript here he says alone,(:) Can you advise me? Laertes I'm lost in it my lord,(;) but let him come, It warms the very sickness in my heart<,> That I shall live and tell him to his teeth<;> 60 Thus didest thou. King If it be so Laertes, As how should it be so,(:) how otherwise, Will you be ruled by me? Laertes {Ay my lord,} So you<'> {wil}l not o'errule me to a peace.(:) King To thine own peace,(:) if he be now return'd<,> 65 As {the king} at his voyage, and that he means No more to undertake it,(;) I will work him To an exploit{,} now ripe in my device, Under the which he shall not choose but fall:(;) And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe, 70 But even his mother shall uncharge the practise, And call it accident.(:) {Laertes My lord, I will be ruled, The rather if you could devise it so That I might be the organ. King It falls right. 75 You have been talk'd of since your travel much, And that in Hamlet's hearing, for a quality Wherein they say you shine, your sum of parts Did not together pluck such envy from him As did that one, and that in my regard 80 Of the unworthiest siege. Laertes What part is that, my lord? King A very riband in the cap of youth, Yet needful too; for youth no less becomes The light and careless livery that it wears 85 Than settled age, his sables and his weeds Importing health and graveness;} two months since (hence), Here was a gentleman of Normandy,(.) I've seen myself, and served against the French, And they c(r)an well on horseback,(;) but this gallant 90 Had witchcraft in 't,(;) he grew u(i)nto his seat, And to such wondrous doing brought his horse, As he had been incorpsed{,} and demi-natured With the brave beast<,> so far he topp'd (past) me (my) thought, That I in forgery of shapes and tricks<,> 95 Come short of what he did. Laertes A Norman was 't? King A Norman. Laertes Upon my life Lamor(un)d. King The very same. Laertes I know him well, he is the brooch indeed<,> And gem of all the (our) nation. King 100 He made confession of you, And gave you such a masterly report<,> For art and exercise in your defence,(;) And for your rapier most especial, That he cried out<,> 'twould be a sight indeed<,> 105 If one could match you{; the scrimers of their nation He swore had had neither motion, guard, nor eye, If you opposed them;} sir<.> this report of his Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy, That he could nothing do but wish and beg<,> 110 Your sudden coming o'er to play with you (him).(;) Now out of this. Laertes What (Why) out of this<,> my lord? King Laertes was your father dear to you? Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, A face without a heart? Laertes Why ask you this? King 115 Not that I think you did not love your father, But that I know(,) love is begun by time,(:) And that I see in passages of proof, Time qualifies the spark and fire of it,(:) {There lives within the very flame of love 120 A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it, And nothing is at a like goodness still, For goodness growing to a pleurisy, Dies in his own too much, that we would do We should do when we would: for this would changes, 125 And hath abatements and delays as many, As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents, And then this should is like a spend thrifts {*} sigh, {* spendthrift Êâ5} That hurts by easing; but, to the quick o' th' ulcer,} Hamlet comes back: what would you undertake<,> 130 To show yourself {indeed} your father's son More than in words? Laertes To cut his throat i' th' church. King No place indeed should murder sanctuarize,(;) Revenge should have no bounds: but good Laertes Will you do this, keep close within your chamber, 135 Hamlet return'd, shall know you are come home,(:) We'll put on those shall praise your excellence, And set a double varnish on the fame The Frenchman gave you, bring you in fine together<,> And wager ore (on) your heads;(,) he being remiss, 140 Most generous and free from all contriving, Will not peruse the foils,(?) so that with ease, Or with a little shuffling, you may choose A sword unbated, and in a pace (pass) of practise<,> Requite him for your father. Laertes I will do't, 145 And for purpose, I'll anoint my sword.(:) I bought an unction of a mountebank So mortal, that (I) but dip a knife in it, Where it draws blood, no cataplasm so rare, Collected from all simples that have virtue 150 Under the moon, can save the thing from death<,> That is but scratch'd withal,(:) I'll touch my point With this contagion, that if I gall him slightly, It may be death. King Let's further think of this.(,) Weigh what convenience both of time and means 155 May fit us to our shape<,> if this should fail,(;) And that our drift look through our bad performance, 'Twere better not assay'd,(;) therefore this project Should have a back or second<,> that might hold<,> If this did (should) blast in proof;(:) soft<,> let me see{,} 160 We'll make a solemn wager on your cun(m)n(m)ings, I ha 't,(:) when in your motion you are hot and dry, As make your bouts more violent to the (that) end, And that he calls for drink,(;) I'll have prefard (prepared) him A chalice for the nonce,(;) whereon but sipping, 165 If he by chance escape your venom'd stuck, Our purpose may hold there; {but stay, what noise?} Enter Queen. Queen One woe doth tread upon another's heel, So fast they<'l> follow;(:) your sister's drown'd Laertes. Laertes Drown'd,(!) Î where? Queen 170 There is a willow grows ask(l)ant the (a) brook<,> That shows his horry (hoar) leaves in the glassy stream,(:) There with fantastic garlands did she make (come,) Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples<,> That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,(;) 175 But our (cull-)cold maids do dead men's fingers call them.(:) There on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds Clambering to hang,(;) an envious sliver broke,(,) When down her (the) weedy trophies<,> and herself Fell in the weeping brook, her clothes spread wide, 180 And mermaid-like<,> awhile they bore her up, Which time she chanted snatches of old lauds (tunes), As one incapable of her own distress, Or like a creature native and indued Unto that element,(:) but long it could not be<,> 185 Till that her garments<,> heavy with their (her) drink, Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay (buy)<,> To muddy death. Laertes Alas, then, she (is) is (she) drown'd.(?) Queen Drown'd, drown'd. Laertes Too much of water hast thou poor Ophelia, 190 And therefore I forbid my tears;(:) but yet It is our trick, nature her custom holds, Let shame say what it will,(;) when these are gone{,} The woman will be out.(:> Adieu my lord, I have a speech of fire<,> that fain would blaze, 195 But that this folly drowns (doubts) it. Exit. King Let's follow<,> Gertrude: How much I had to do to calm his rage,(?) Now fear I this will give it start again,(;) Therefore let's follow. Exeunt. +ÀÑÒ 5+ +SCENE 1+ Enter two Clownes. Clowne Is she to be buried in Christian burial, when she} wilfully seeks her own salvation? Other I tell thee she is, therefore make her grave straight, the crowner hath sat on her, and finds it Christian burial. Clowne 6 How can that be, unless she drowned herself in her own defence.(?) Other Why 'tis found so. Clowne 9 It must be so (se) offended (offendendo), it cannot be else,(:) for here lies the point; if I drown myself wittingly, it argues an act,(:) & an act hath three branches,(.) it is, to (an) act, to do{,} to per- form{, or all}; she drowned herself wittingly. Other Nay, but hear you, good{ }man delver. Clowne 15 Give me leave. Here lies the water,(;) good,(:) here stands the man,(;) good,(:) if the man go to this water, & drown himself,(;) it is will he{,} nill he, he goes,(;) mark you that,(?) but if the water come to him{,} & drown him,(;) he drowns not himself,(.) argall, he that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life. Other 21 But is this law? Clowne Ay, marry, is 't, crowner's quest law. Other Will you ha' the truth on 't,{:} if this had not been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out a (of) christian burial. Clowne 26 Why there thou say'st: and the more pity that great folk should have countna{u}nce in this world to drown or hang themselves, more than their even- christian:(.) come, my spade,(;) there is no ancient gentleman but gardeners, ditchers, and grave- makers,(;) they hold up Adam's profession. Other 32 Was he a gentleman? Clowne He was the first that ever bore arms. I'll put another ques- tion to thee,(;) if thou answerest me not to the pur- pose, confess thyself.(-) Other 40 Go to. Clowne What is he that builrls stronger than either the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter? Other The gallows-maker,(,) for that outlives a thousand tenants. Clowne 45 I like thy wit well in good faith, the gallows does well,(;) but how does it well? It does well to those that do ill,(:) now thou dost ill to say the gallows is built stronger than the church,(:) argal, the gallows may do well to thee. To 't again, come. Other 51 Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or a carpenter? Clowne Ay, tell me that<,> and unyoke. Other Marry<,> now I can tell. Clowne 55 To 't. Other Mass<,> I cannot tell. Clowne Cudgel thy brains no more about it,(;) for your dull ass will not mend his pace with beating; and, when you are asked this question next,(;) say a grave- maker,(:) the houses he makes last till dooms- day.(:) Go<,> get thee {in, and} fetch me a soope (stoup) of liquor. In youth when I did love, did love, {Song.} Methought it was very sweet<:> 65 To contract î the time, for a my behove, Î methought there a was nothing {a} meet. {Enter Hamlet and Horatio.} Hamlet Has this fellow no feeling of his business? {*}(,) {* busines? a 2Êâ} he sings in (at) grave-making? Horatio Custom hath made it in (at) him a property of easiness. Hamlet 70 Tis e'en so,(;) the hand of little employment hath the dintier sense. Clowne But age with his stealing steps {Song.} Hath claw'd (caught) me in his clutch,(:) And hath shipped me into (untill) the land, 75 As if I had never been such. +Throws up a skull.+ Hamlet That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once: how the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were Cain's jaw-bone, that did the first murder(:) this (it) might be the pate of a politician, which this ass o'erreaches (o'er Offices); one that w(c)ould circumvent God, might it not? Horatio 82 It might<,> my lord. Hamlet Or of a courtier, which could say<,> good morrow sweet lord,(:) how dost thou sweet (good) lord? This might be my lord such-a-one, that praised my lord such-a-one's horse, when he went (meant) to beg it,(;) might it not? Horatio 88 Ay<,> my lord. Hamlet Why e'en so,(:) & now my lady wormes<,> chap- less, & knocked about the massene (mazard) with a sexton's spade; here's fine revolution<,> and (if) we had the trick to see 't,(.) did these bones cost no more the breeding, but to play at loggets with them:(?) mine ache to think on 't. Clowne Song (Clown sings). 95 A pick-axe and a spade<,> a spade, For and a shrouding sheet,(:) Î a pit of clay for to be made<,> For such a guest is meet. +He digs up more skulls+. Hamlet 99 There's another,(:) why may (might) not that be the skull of a lawyer,(?) where be his quiddit{ie}s now,(?) his quillities {*} (quillets),(?) his cases,(?) his tenures, and {* quillites} his tricks? why does he suffer this mad (rude) knave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel, and will not tell him of his action of battery,(?) hum,(.) this fellow might be in's time a great buyer of land, with his statutes, his recognizances, his fines, his double vouchers, his recoveries,(:) to have his fine pate full of fine dirt,(?) will vouchers vouch him no more of his purchases<,> & double{s} , than the length and breadth of a pair of indentures? The very conveyances of his lands will scarcely (hardly) lie in this box,(;) & must the inheri- tor himself have no more,(?) ha.(?) Horatio 115 Not a jot more<,> my lord. Hamlet Is not parchment made of sheepskins? Horatio Ay my lord, and of calves' skins too. Hamlet They are sheep and calves which (that) seek out assurance in that,(.) I will speak to this fellow.(:) Whose grave's this sirrah (Sir)? Clowne 121 Mine sir,(:) +Sings.+ Or (O) a pit of clay for to be made.(,) Hamlet I think it be thine indeed,(:) for thou liest in't. Clowne 126 You lie out on't sir, and therefore it is not yours;(:) for my part<,> I do not lie in 't,(;) yet it is mine. Hamlet Thou dost lie in 't<,> to be in 't & say it is thine,(:) 'tis for the dead, not for the quick, therefore thou liest. Clowne 131 Tis a quick lie sir, 'twill away again from me to you. Hamlet What man dost thou dig it for? Clowne For no man sir. Hamlet 135 What woman then? Clowne For none neither. Hamlet Who is to be buried in 't? Clowne One that was a woman sir,(;) but rest her soul<,> she's dead. Hamlet 140 How absolute the knave is(?) we must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us.(:) By the Lord Horatio, this (these) three years I have took (taken) a note of it, the age is grown so picked, that the toe of the peasant comes so near the heel of the (our) courtier<,> he galls his kibe. How long hast thou been grave-maker? Clownå 147 Of the days i' th' year<;> I came to 't that day that our last king Hamlet overcame Fortinbras. Hamlet 150 How long is that since? Clowne Cannot you tell that? every fool can tell that,(:) it was that (the) very day that young Hamlet was bom:(,) he that is (was) mad<,> and sent into England. Hamlet Ay marry, why was he sent into England? Clowne 155 Why<,> because he was mad:(;) he shall recover his wits there,(;) or if he do not, it's no great matter there. Hamlet Why? Clowne 'Twill not be seen in him {there}, there the men are as mad as he. Hamlet 161 How came he mad? Clowne Very strangely they say. Hamlet How strangely? Clowne Faith e'en with losing his wits. Hamlet 165 Upon what ground? Clowne Why, here in Denmark: I have been sexton (sixeteene) here, man and boy, thirty years. Hamlet How long will a man lie i' th' earth ere he rot? Clowne 169 Faith (Ifaith), if he be not rotten before he die{,} <(>as we have many pocky corses , that will scarce hold the laying in,()) he will last you some eight year, or nine year. A tanner will last you nine year. Hamlet Why he more than another? Clowne 174 Why sir, his hide is so tanned with his trade, that he will keep out water a great while;(.) & your water is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body,(.) here's a skull now<: this Skull,> hath (has) lain {you} in the earth 23 (three and twenty years). Hamlet Whose was it? Clowne 180 A whoreson mad fellow's it was,(;) whose 6o you think it was? Hamlet Nay<,> I know not. Clowne A pestilence on him for a mad rogue, a' poured a flagon of rhenish on my head once;(.) this same skull sir, was {sir} Yorick's skull, the king's jester. Hamlet 186 This? Clowne E'en that. Hamlet Alas poor Yorick, I knew him, Hor- atio, a fellow of infinite jest,(;) of most excellent fancy, he hath bore me on his back a thousand times,(:) and {now} how abhorred (in) my imagination {it} is:(,) my gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft,(.) where be your gibes now? your gambols,(?) your songs,(?) your flashes of merriment{,} that were wont to set the table on a roar,(?) Not (no) one now to mock your own grinning (ieering)? quite chap-fallen.(?) Now get you to my lady's table (chamber), & tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come,(.) make her laugh at that.(:) Prithee Horatio tell me one thing. Horatio 201 What's that my lord? Hamlet Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this fashion i' th, earth? Horatio E'en so. Hamlet 205 And smelt so pah. Horatio E'en so<,> my lord. Hamlet To what base uses we may return Horatio?(.) Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung- hole? Horatio 211 'Twere to consider<:> too curiously to consider so. Hamlet No faith, not a jot,(.) but to follow him thither with modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it,(;) Alexander died,(:) Alexander was buried,(:) Alexander returneth to dust,(;) the dust is earth,(;) of earth we make loam, & why of that loam <(>whereto he was converted,()) might they not stop a beer-barrel? 219 Imperious (Imperiall) Caesar, dead and tum'd to clay, Might stop a hole{,} to keep the wind away. O<,> that that earth, which kept the world in awe, Should patch a wall to expel the waters (winter's) flaw. But soft, but soft<,> awhile (aside)(,) here comes the king,(.) {Enter K. Q. Laertes and the corse.} The queen, the courtiers,(.) who is this (that) they follow?(,) 225 And with such maimed rites? this doth betoken, The corse they follow, did with desp'(e)rate hand<,> Fordo its own life,(;) 'twas {of} some estate. Couch we awhile, and mark. Laertes What ceremony else? Hamlet 230 That is Laertes<,> a very noble youth,(:) mark. Laertes What ceremony else? Doctor (Priest) Her obsequies have been as far enlarged<.> As we have warranty, her death was doubtful, And, but that great command<,> oversways the order, 235 She should in ground unsanctified been (haue) lodged<,> Till the last trumpet:(.) for charitable pray(i)er{s}, flints and pebbles should be thrown on her: Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants (rites), Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home 240 Of bell and burial. Laertes Must there no more be done? Doctor (Priest) No more be done.(:) We should profane the service of the dead;(,) To sing a (sage) requiem<,> and such rest to her As to peace-parted souls. Laertes Lay her i' th' earth: 245 And from her fair and unpolluted flesh<,>